The 10 a.m. choral Eucharist on Sunday, June 28, at All Saints’ Church in Beverly Hills will bring to a close 38 years of ministry there by its veteran music director, Canon Dr. Craig Phillips, an acclaimed composer of choral and organ works.
To honor his legacy, the parish has established an endowment fund, the “Canon Dr. Craig Phillips Distinguished Chair, Director of Music” with the goal of raising $3-5 million “which would initially provide around $150,000 in revenue each year for attracting and retaining the most gifted Director of Music candidates and provide vital support for our beloved music program,” organizers say. More information, with a contribution link, is here.
The American Guild of Organists spring gala held May 7 at All Saints’ honored Phillips, who joined the parish staff in 1988 at the invitation of then music director Canon Thomas Foster, whom Phillips later succeeded. The gala concert opened with Phillips’s “Sojourn for Organ and Winds” (2009), a cinematic work originally commissioned for the 2010 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Washington D.C. The gala concert’s choir and orchestra also performed An Oxford Elegy by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, Opus 9.
Tributes to Phillips and the excellence of his ministry have been received from across the nation and around the world. Expressions of the congregation’s gratitude have been led by the parish’s interim priest-in-charge, the Very Rev. Dr. Gary Hall, retired dean of Washington National Cathedral also known for decades of ministry in the Diocese of Los Angeles, whose final Sunday at All Saints will be June 21 prior to the arrival of the parish’s new rector, the Rev. Andrew Barnett.
Renowned organ builder Manuel Rosales, whose commissions include the acclaimed instrument in L.A.’s Walt Disney Concert Hall and a recent new installation at Trinity Church Wall Street, praised Phillips’s talents and achievements.
“Craig Phillips is the consummate church musician,” Rosales told The Episcopal News. “As a dedicated and distinguished choirmaster, organist, composer and conductor he is devoted to excellence in all his endeavors. In addition to his musical legacy, he leaves All Saints’ pipe organ with upgraded features, additional musical colors and a more profound tonal range.
“It has been an honor and a pleasure to work for Craig and to observe how the music program has thrived in his hands,” Rosales added, noting the establishment of the parish music endowment in Phillips’s honor. “Bravo, Craig!”
“It has been the joy and privilege of my life to serve in this special place for such a long time and through so many chapters,” Phillips wrote in a recent message to friends. “I’ll always cherish the amazing colleagues and friends I worked with and especially the choirs! Now I’m looking forward to my next chapter, which I’ve been planning for a quite a while. I’ll be dividing my time between France and Palm Springs, and will be focusing mainly on my composition work. I’m also looking forward to more traveling, spending time with friends and family, and being able to attend more performances of my music. I’m grateful and feel blessed for all of this and excited about the time ahead!”
Biographical information published by All Saints’ on the parish website notes that Phillips’s works are heard weekly in churches nationwide, with many “performed in concert throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. He was named the American Guild of Organists’ Distinguished Composer in 2012, making him the 17th recipient of this prestigious award. In 2015, Phillips was named an honorary canon of the Cathedral Center of St Paul, Los Angeles (during a diocesan concert held at the Music Center’s Disney Hall) and in 2016 was awarded an honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was further honored as an Honorary Fellow of the Guild of Musicians & Singers in the United Kingdom in 2023.
“Phillips was the featured soloist at the opening service of the 2012 National Convention of the American Guild of Organists in Nashville, where he premiered a newly-commissioned work called Three Sketches for Organ, in addition to other works for organ, brass, and percussion. In 2010, he premiered his commissioned work Sojourn for Organ and Winds at the National Convention of the AGO, and was the featured soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in a performance of his Concertino for Organ and Orchestra in 2002. He has also appeared as a soloist with members of the Eastman Philharmonia, the Oklahoma Symphony, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and Musica Angelica.”
His music has been featured in articles in The American Organist, The Los Angeles Times, and The Diapason, and he has received commissions from organizations including the American Guild of Organists, The Episcopal Church, the Association of Anglican Musicians, Stellar Brass, the Chamber Orchestra at St. Matthews, CoroAllegro, The University of Iowa, Syracuse University, UC Riverside, and Washington National Cathedral among other churches and institutions. He’s
Phillips “also received numerous ASCAP Awards, as well as a Meet the Composer grant for a work premiered at the Ojai Festival, in addition to having his organ, choral, and chamber works published by a variety of prestigious firms.
“Many of his works have been recorded, including several recordings on the Gothic Records label, many of which feature the All Saints’ Choir with Phillips as organist. Other works have been recorded on the Arkay, JAV, Summit, and Pro Organo labels, as well.
Phillips has been named Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music, and holds a Performers’ Certificate from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., where he studied under the pedagogy of Russell Saunders. He also earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Oklahoma Baptist University, and his earliest musical studies were at the Blair School of Music, in Nashville. He is also a member of the American Guild of Organists; the Association of Anglican Musicians; and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers; in addition to serving on the boards for the Ann Stookey Fund for New Music, as well as the Clarence Mader Foundation.
“Phillips came to All Saints’ in 1988 directly from graduate studies at the Eastman School of Music, where he was recruited by then director Thomas Foster to serve as Associate. He has a deep love of travel and has long spent part of each summer in Southern France, where he writes music and draws inspiration.”